We just tested Trimble's newest Robot, S-7 with Locate 2 Protect!
People have been asking why Manufactures don't put a tracker in their Robots/GPS in case of theft. Trimble is the 1st to do so in all their new S-series guns. I am told that a retro fit will be available soon for all older S-series instruments as well.
What it is:
Imagine sending out a crew and knowing how much time they were on a job site.
Imagine knowing which crew has what instrument.
Imagine Geo Fencing a location and knowing what time the instrument entered or left the site.
Imagine knowing exactly how hard and when an instrument was dropped, G-Force sensor built in.
Imagine if your instrument is stolen and you can tell the police the exact address it is located or follow the bread crumb trail to the location. Most anywhere in the known world there is a cell tower or GPS signal you will get a location.
No longer do you need to imagine, this feature is built into every S-5,S-7 & S-9 instrument and it works great!
There is an annual $274.00 subscription. I need to check with insurance agents and see if they offer a discount for this technology. Aside from the subscription price , it will add value to companies with several crews as well as protect your investment, knowing exactly when an instrument was damaged or if it needs to go into the shop due to a hard fall. I think this will be an additional advantage to those who choose to use it.
JSW
The day one does not trust the people he/she hires to do the work and needs to resort to technology to see when, where, and how long then it's time to find new employees. Or for the employees to find an employer who will respect and trust.
Using the technology to track stolen equipment is one thing but, using it to spy on others wrong.
:good:
The real benefit of a GPS receiver in a total station, in my opinion would be to facilitate instantaneous reduction of celestial observations, solving both time and position, all that is left is the ephemeris (which generally only needs updating annually and could be done daily via SMS (short message service/text) from the manufacturer. I'd think that would be a much better use of the technology than any of the things you listed. A sun shot could be done, literally within seconds, after setting up the total station, with the azimuth related to any projection system in the total station's library, instantly. No need for stopwatches, ephemeris tables, field books, reduction software, etc. Solar filter, point the sun, press a button, azimuth solved. Call me crazy, but that sounds like surveying to me.
Security against theft is a nice feature.
Topcon has been doing this similar service for a spell with the newer PS series. Either way, it's a great service.
I'd seen this mentioned in the roll out of the S5,S7,S9 promo.
I even put out a question here a short time ago about who else had heard of, or used it.
I'm in the middle of updating warranty's for our gear here, including an S6, and a couple of R10's. This was a question I was going to ask in that process with your shop in Tigard!
Thanks for posting here. I hope there is a way to retro-fit a version in the R10's... then I don't have to "babysit" them as much when doing 4+ hour baseline occupations!!
Again, thanks for the update!!
